ANALYSIS ECONOMY AND FINANCE TOP 5 THE MOST IMPORTANT POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTS IN 2022, AND THE CHALLENGES FOR 2023 Adrian Lupușor Stas Madan December 2022 Among the most important positive economic and social developments in 2022 were: obtaining by Moldova of the EU candidate country status, increased external financial support, development of support mechanisms for vulnerable sections of the population and companies, in parallel with strengthened efforts to fight informal economy, the management of the refugee crisis and the fact that, for the first time, Moldova has begun to implement a genuine agenda of strengthening energy security. The positive developments took place against the background of several negative trends and events: stagflation - economic recession combined with high inflation, slow progress of systemic reforms, chronic budget deficits coupled with increasing social obligations, increased poverty rate and social inequalities, and decrease in investment activity on background of increasing uncertainty and business costs. The year 2023 will be full of challenges and risks, the main ones being: the continuation of the war in Ukraine with direct and indirect repercussions on Moldova, the problematic execution of the state budget in the context of a difficult economic year and growing social obligations, the risk of new price increases for energy resources, the risk of electoral populism in the context of local elections, as well as the risk of undermining economic potential due to emigration and the disinvestment phenomenon.